Werth Poll

May 2016 Werth Poll, Part 2 of 4: Reactions to the Wage Gap, Pay for Women and CEOs

June 9, 2016

Wage inequality between rich and poor and between men and women has been a hot topic this election year, and a majority of Ohio women appear to have distinct opinions on the topic.

In the May Werth Poll, registered voters were asked whether the wage gap is the result of women being underpaid or men being overpaid. Among women, about 69 percent said lower salaries for females are to blame for the wage gap, with 18 percent blaming high salaries for men instead of or in addition to women’s pay.

Ohio men were less likely to accept the premise of the question. Thirty-one percent of men did not offer an answer to the question, compared to only 13 percent of the women. (Among those who did answer, their answers were similar to those of their female counterparts.)

There is a greater gender gap when it comes to how Ohio voters feel about high corporate salaries.

Asked whether they would support or oppose a law placing limits on the wages of executives at publicly traded companies, women said they would by almost a 2-1 margin. Men, on the other hand, were divided, with 48 percent saying they would oppose the maximum-wage law and 44 percent in support.

In a presidential race that is likely to be between a woman and a CEO, don’t be surprised if these topics come up again once or twice between now and November.

Below are the details of the survey. Stay tuned next week as we reveal part 3 of the spring Werth Poll.

Ohio Statewide Survey5/10/16 – 5/14/2016N=803, +/- 3.45%Registered Voters(Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.)

This survey research data was gathered through telephone interviews that specially-trained interviewers conducted with 803 randomly-selected registered voters in the State of Ohio with histories of voting in recent even-year November general elections or were recent new registrants, who had valid residential, VOIP or cellular telephone numbers. The interviews were performed during the period of May 10, 2016 through May 14, 2016. The overall estimated margin of sampling error is +/- 3.45%, based on a confidence level of 95%, although it varies for each individual question. This means that if this survey was repeated, 95 times out of 100 the results would be within plus or minus 3.45% of those provided herein. Adjustments were made to weight the results toward demographic and geographic characteristics of the state’s electorate, in order to account for under- and over-sampling that normally occurs as a result of the random selection process, and to ensure that all major sub-groups are represented in proportion to their actual percentages. Like all polls, this opinion survey research is subject to other possible sources of error, such as unintentional bias in the wording of questions, data-entry error and nonresponse bias.